A few hours before receiving Professor Whittle's electronic `Call for Help',
the regular postman delivered the following PhD-thesis on my doorstep, to be
defended in public at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) on 30
October 1989, 14.00 h:

Hans Furn'ee is one of the founding fathers of his field, and he has covered
in a comprehensive way the history and current state-of-the-art. His thesis
was written under the academic responsibility of Prof.ir. B.P.Th. Veltman at
the Signal Processing Department (former chancellor of Delft University) and
of Prof. J.P. Paul, Bioengineering Unit at Strathclyde University, Scotland
(past-president of the International Society of Biomechanics).

I have been unable to ask Hans' permission, but I trust that he will not object
against the following quotation (p. vi):

ABSTRACT

TV-based motion analysis systems are described, that perform real-time non-
contacting coordinate data acquisition of contrasting markers, attached as
landmark points to unobstructed moving objects. The account ranges from our
original prototype to the recent PRIMAS Precision Motion Analysis System. A
review of the literature discusses derived and alternative systems, develop-
ments are positioned within a historical framework. Performance criteria
are formulated, PRIMAS test results are given and a comparison of this and
commercial systems is provided.

Commercialization of PRIMAS seems under way. As stated on p. 157:

To complement the PRIMAS system, in a cooperative project, funded by the SPIN
agency, the High Technology Holland (Eindhoven) company have adapted their MX
measurement camera to a reduced-integrationtime MX-E.

In The Netherlands, PhD-theses are published by the author in a limited number
(usually, 250-500), and supplementary, commercial editions are becoming increas-
ingly popular -- albeit largely in non-technical areas (Law, Psychology, Socio-
logy, Medicine). Those of you interested in biokine(ma)tics might be well advi-
sed to get in touch with the author.